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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Pats coaching change

If anyone is reading this I am guessing that you all are aware that the Pats have fired their coach Dale Derkatch. Here is a collection of news articles about the firing and about the possible candidates and other articles about the situation. All articles can be found on www.leaderpost.com

Regina Pats fire head coach Derkatch

By Greg Harder, Leader-PostMay 5, 2009

REGINA -- Dale Derkatch made a grand entrance when he became the head coach of the Regina Pats last summer — a hero's homecoming with all the pomp and circumstance befitting his legendary status.

When Derkatch was shown the door on Tuesday, he walked out with a quiet, humble dignity befitting a man of class.

"I'm not really going to say very much at all other than what I told (GM) Brent (Parker); I thanked him for the opportunity," said the Pats' all-time leading scorer, who was relieved of his coaching duties Tuesday while assistant Terry Perkins was informed his expiring contract wouldn't be renewed.

"Obviously I have mixed emotions. I played for the team so you leave feeling bad that things didn't go well. I hope the team does well next year and for years to come. That's generally my whole take on it. You're not going to change anything now."

Derkatch, who was fired with two years left on his contract, wasn't caught entirely off guard by the announcement since he didn't receive a vote of confidence after the underachieving Pats missed the playoffs.

The question is: With just one season at the helm, did he get a fair shake?

"I can't say," responded Derkatch, whose only previous coaching experience came with the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds. "Coaches go in halfway through the year or for (only) two months and that's the chance they get. I had a year."

As it turns out, it wasn't enough.

"It's like anything, you never know what a situation is going to bring," continued Derkatch, who left a stable job as the director of hockey development at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame. "That was the decision we made, not only myself but as a family. It was an opportunity and it seemed like a good fit at the time.

"It's too bad I won't have an opportunity to go in (next season) with more of an understanding and a plan and getting things organized and have the time to do it. But it is what it is. I appreciate the opportunity I had. At the moment it's hard to know what's going to happen or what I'm going to do but going forward there will be other opportunities, whatever they are, and we'll move ahead."

Parker took about seven weeks to determine the fate of Derkatch, who continued to perform his duties in spite of the fact he was essentially in limbo. Parker defended the delay, stating he had to put the necessary due diligence into his decision as well as get through the bantam draft.

In the end, it came down to making a decision with his head, not his heart.

"Dale is a great person," said Parker. "He cares deeply about the franchise and the kids and wants to succeed. That's why I wanted to make sure I took the proper time to evaluate everything. He has meant a lot (to the franchise) so of course it was difficult that way. He's an icon as a player. I still think he'll be a good coach. I hope he gets another opportunity."

In terms of Derkatch's legacy, Parker said — in his mind — No. 16 will continue to hang from the rafters as proudly as ever.

"I'll remember him as someone I enjoyed working with who came to work with a smile on his face even in the most difficult times and wanted to succeed as much as anybody," added the GM. "He still goes down in my mind as the best Pat player of all time. I'll leave that to other people to judge what his legacy is."

As for Derkatch, he insisted his feelings about the organization haven't changed even though his departure is far from a fairytale ending.

"It's part of my life," he said of the Pats' franchise. "As a player I had a great time and, you'll probably find this hard to believe, but this year, for a good two-thirds of it, was also a great experience. It turned bad after but you learn a lot from those things. The Pats will be around for a lot longer than all of us will be, so all the best in the future."

REGINA -- Head coach Dale Derkatch paid the price for the shortcomings of the Regina Pats.

Now it's up to the men who hired him — owner Russ Parker and GM Brent Parker — to put their money where their collective mouth is.

"It has always been our intention to put a team on the ice that has a chance to win; that hasn't changed," Russ Parker said Tuesday from Calgary. "We feel like we're at a point where there's pressure for us to deliver as an organization. You have to look at the top for sure. Brent and I, we're determined to have success and to go deeper into the playoffs. We'll do whatever we can to do so. I'm sure our fanbase is disappointed and we can understand that. They want to see some results."

After a lengthy evaluation, the Parkers decided Derkatch wasn't the right man to achieve those results — especially given a clearly stated mandate to put a contending team on the ice next season.

Given that sense of urgency, there wasn't a willingness to endure more growing pains behind the bench.

"I don't think you can pin it directly on (Derkatch)," noted the GM. "We just think going forward we're better served to have someone with a little more experience and understanding of the league and a presence that goes with it to give us the best chance to be successful going forward."

As for the original decision to hire Derkatch, Brent Parker insisted it wasn't necessarily wrong to give a young coach a chance. However, he did feel that Derkatch was exploited at times last season by more seasoned bench bosses.

"It's the old question of how does a guy get experience if you don't give him an opportunity," said Parker. "We felt his passion and excitement for the franchise and the game would help offset some of that stuff. Obviously I was mistaken. It didn't offset it enough. Ultimately the performance of your team and being ready (for whatever comes your way) and working hard has to fall on the coaches. I'm not trying to shirk any responsibility because that wouldn't be very prudent of me. I think everyone needs to share in it."

Including the GM.

"There are some things I wish I had done differently," admitted Parker. "There are probably some things that I could have and should have helped Dale in terms of protecting him, but you can't be on the bench with them either. You have to let them grow. Maybe I listened to too much of the criticism that has come over the years about people thinking I'm trying to coach the team from upstairs and maybe I pulled back a little bit too far. But there's a fine line."

Asked why Derkatch should be the sacrificial lamb while the long-serving GM remains, Parker pulled no punches — and made no apologies.

"It's a family-owned business," he added. "I'm entrusted to make the decisions on the hockey side right now and I believe I'm more than capable of doing the job. Every decision I've made has been what I thought was in the best interest of the franchise. I certainly didn't hire Dale with the intention of being here today doing this. There are always going to be detractors. There are always going to be people who think otherwise. That's fair. But right now I'm going forward in that manner and that's the way it'll be."

REGINA -- As a few Regina Pats lifted weights in their dressing room at the Brandt Centre on Tuesday, general manager Brent Parker was down the hall, saying the players had another burden to bear.

At a media conference in the bowels of the arena, Parker suggested the WHL team's players had to shoulder some of the responsibility for the firing of head coach Dale Derkatch. Told of Parker's comments, right-winger Garrett Mitchell said the players were doing just that.

"As a group, we let (Derkatch) down a little bit," Mitchell said. "It's tough to see. He only got one year. He proved himself as a player in this league and he wanted to prove himself as a coach, too. We didn't really give him that chance."

"We're a team and one person can't take the blame," added defenceman Matt Delahey. "We didn't get it done. But someone has to be the goat. It's a business."

Derkatch was let go after the Pats posted a 27-39-1-5 regular-season record and failed to reach the playoffs.

Parker told the media there were too many nights during the season that the Pats were outworked by their opponents, and he put the blame for that squarely on the players. He also wants them to hold each other accountable more and lead in the way former Pats captains Barret Jackman, Garth Murray and Rick Rypien did.

"We have to do a better job of fostering (leadership)," Parker said.

Before joining the Pats, Derkatch had been the director of hockey development at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and the head coach of the Hounds midget AAA squad.

Mitchell said that experience served Derkatch well with the Pats, as it allowed him to deal with young men who were living away from home and to help them react to the situations they faced. Asked what his now-former head coach didn't do well, Mitchell demured.

"We just didn't play for him," he said. "We didn't give him a chance to continue his career with the Regina Pats."

There has been speculation that the players had tuned out Derkatch — "lost the room" is the popular euphemism — but Parker disputed that notion.

"I don't think he lost the room," the GM said. "I think the kids still respected Dale. Did he lose some of the kids? He may have, but I don't think he lost the room."

"I think he did his job," Mitchell noted. "The stuff he did to keep us together as a group was exactly what he needed to do. It was just the way we responded."

Delahey, however, believes some Pats went their own way.

"Everybody's happy when you're winning," said Delahey, whose squad battled the Saskatoon Blades for first place in the East Division early in the season before plunging down the standings. "As you start losing, agendas change and people start thinking about themselves. It wasn't a good scenario by the end of the year."

Now, depending on whom Parker hires, the returning players face an unknown commodity in the form of a new head coach.

"We went through the same thing last year (when Derkatch replaced Curtis Hunt)," Delahey said. "You're unsure, but it shouldn't really worry you. Every year, you've got to come in, work hard and earn your spot anyway no matter who the coach is."

Brent Parker is the general manager of the Regina Pats.Photograph by: Don Healy, Leader-Post files

REGINA -- The WHL's Regina Pats know exactly who they want as their next head coach — they just haven't found him yet.

"I think everything has to be predicated on hard work," said GM Brent Parker. "It bothered (owner) Russ (Parker) and it bothered me (last season when) we got outworked on too many nights. Offensive chances are created from hard work. Good defence gets created from hard work. Even special teams. It has to be somebody who we know gets his teams to work hard and it's going to be a focal point of everything we do at the start of camp."

After firing rookie bench boss Dale Derkatch on Tuesday, Parker also emphasized the need for his next head coach to have knowledge of the league and experience at the junior level. He already has a few candidates in mind, some of whom are currently employed by other teams, be it in the NHL, WHL or other leagues.

Parker also isn't putting a timeline on his search other than to say he'll announce it when he has found the right person.

"We have some people in mind and I'll be starting the process (Wednesday)," he said. "I have to get permission on a couple of people (from their current employers) and see where they're at and go from there."

Two men who might fall into that category are Swift Current Broncos head coach/GM Dean Chynoweth and Lethbridge Hurricanes bench boss Michael Dyck. The Broncos recently picked up the option year on Chynoweth's contract, but didn't offer an extension, leading to speculation he might find more job security elsewhere. Dyck, a former Pats defenceman, may not return to Lethbridge due to an apparent strained relationship with GM Roy Stasiuk. Rich Sutter is rumoured to be waiting in the wings.

Another possibility is to bring back Curtis Hunt, who spent four years with the Pats before joining the Ottawa Senators last season. Hunt has an open invitation to remain as the head coach of Ottawa's AHL affiliate in Binghamton, but he hasn't made up his mind. Also available is ex-Chilliwack Bruins head coach Jim Hiller and former Kelowna Rockets bench boss Jeff Truitt.

The biggest name on the open market remains Marc Habscheid, who has flirted with numerous job openings in the past two seasons. Habscheid talked briefly to the Pats last summer about their head-coaching post, but that ship has sailed.

"We have other people that we'll be looking at," said Parker. "Marc is a good coach. But I'll use his words, 'it wasn't the right fit.' "

Meanwhile, the leading candidate to replace assistant Terry Perkins may be Humboldt Broncos head coach/GM Dean Brockman, whose team is currently defending its national title at the Royal Bank Cup. Brockman has won three SJHL championships in a row.

"I think Dean has done a tremendous job in Humboldt," said Parker, who announced Tuesday he's not renewing Perkins' contract. "(Brockman's) teams obviously have won. His kids play hard for him. I've watched his team a lot over the years. I think he's a bright young coach. Again you go back to, 'Who's going to give him that opportunity?' Will it be as a head coach or will it be as an assistant coach somewhere along the way? I have no doubt he's going to get an opportunity at some point."

REGINA -- Like taking a stick in the gut, Terry Perkins had to catch his breath before reacting to the news that he wouldn't be retained as an assistant coach by the WHL's Regina Pats.

"I'm not quite sure how to take it, but that's the way it goes," he said. "Life's not always fair. At the end of the day you feel you did a good job and someone thought that wasn't good enough. That's their opinion, I guess.

"It's disappointing. I wish there was a different outcome but I feel probably worse for my family right now than for myself. It's tough on everybody, but it is what it is."

Perkins was informed Tuesday that his expiring contract wouldn't be renewed after four seasons as the Pats' top assistant. Although he wants to stay in coaching, the former BCHL bench boss isn't sure what the future holds since his wife and kids are entrenched in the city.

It's a similar situation for head coach Dale Derkatch, who was fired with two years left on his contract.

"I feel bad for Dale, first off," said Perkins. "He was brought in and, in his first year, obviously things didn't go the way anybody wanted them to. To not be given an opportunity to improve on that, it's tough.

"It's not that there's not an understanding of what happened. I get it. I know we underachieved. To what degree, there are different opinions on that. So much stuff has gone on this spring — banter and opinion — about what happened and what the problem is. It was decided by our ownership group that Dale and I were the problem. I guess that's their prerogative.

"From my point of view, I'm thankful for the opportunity to work in the league and the opportunity the Parkers gave me. I know I'm a better coach today than I was when I got here. The experience hopefully will help me moving forward."

Asked if he and Derkatch deserved to take the fall, he replied: "I think blame should be shared in most situations." Perkins also has his own feelings on what went wrong, but didn't discuss specifics.

"It's tough because it doesn't matter," he said. "It still comes back to who gets held accountable and we've been held accountable. That's the way it goes.

"I feel I did as good a job this year as I've ever done for the organization. I feel I've always put them first in everything I've tried to do and tried to offer whatever help I could and shared opinions. That's all you can do. I feel really good about the support I gave Dale. I think I did my very best, especially given the circumstances.

"Things happen within a dressing room and within an organization along the way that kind of steer the ship," he added. "There were some things that I think were out of our control as coaches that led us down the wrong path and got the ball rolling in the wrong direction. Dale has a list of things, I have a list of things, (GM) Brent (Parker) has a list of things that we feel we could have done better. We may regret some of the decisions that were made at the time but you live with them. Dale and I are being held accountable for them."

REGINA -- When head coach Curtis Hunt left the WHL’s Regina Pats last summer to pursue a relationship with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, the terms of separation couldn’t have been more amicable.

As a result, the door may be open for a reunion.

“There’s obviously unfinished business (in Regina), at least from my perspective,” Hunt said from his home in Ottawa after learning the Pats had fired head coach Dale Derkatch on Tuesday. “I think we did some real good things in the time I was there.

“It’s obviously unfortunate the way things went this year. I’m interested in talking to (GM) Brent (Parker) to find out what he and (owner) Russ (Parker) are thinking. I wouldn’t be averse to that.”

Hunt left the Pats on July 11 to become an assistant in Ottawa under new head coach Craig Hartsburg, reuniting the men who combined to guide Canada to consecutive gold medals at the world junior championship.

But Hartsburg didn’t last long with the Sens, who fired him on Feb. 2 and re-assigned Hunt to the head-coaching post with their AHL affiliate in Binghamton.

After taking a few days to mull it over, Hunt accepted the job. He guided Binghamton to a record of 16-14-2-1 and narrowly missed the playoffs, albeit under less-than-ideal circumstances, with the team crippled by injuries and callups to the big club.

The Senators have left the door open for Hunt to return next season.

“That leaves me with a decision,” said the Regina product, who has two years left on his contract. “You make a decision based on what’s best for your family (which would have to relocate to the U.S.) and what’s best for me in terms of my career. Everything kind of factors in.”

Although the Pats didn’t initially play into that decision-making process, they might now. Hunt admitted to keeping an eye on developments with other teams in the WHL, where there are openings with the Chilliwack Bruins and Everett Silvertips. That said, Hunt remains close with Brent Parker, who speaks regularly with his former bench boss.

Hunt accumulated a record of 132-127-11-18 over four seasons in Regina and sits second on the all-time franchise list with 268 games coached. He joined the Pats at the low point of a rebuilding process, guiding the team to a 12-50-4-6 record in 2004-05, then posted three straight winning seasons, including a pair of 40-win campaigns.

The unfinished business to which Hunt speaks is a lack of postseason success, winning just one round over those four campaigns.

The inability of Hunt’s successor to get the Pats into the playoffs this season ultimately cost him his job, as well as that of Hunt’s former assistant, Terry Perkins. Hunt sympathized with Derkatch and Perkins, noting that he has an idea how they feel after being relieved of his duties with Ottawa earlier this season.

“This is the first time I’ve really gone through it as a coach,” added Hunt. “A lot of different emotions go through your mind, but these things make you stronger in the end.

“Sometimes you have to separate the job from what you are as a person. That’s not always easy to do but it’s important. It’s no different than when players get released. We release a lot of real good people. But it’s an industry based on performance and, from a coaching perspective, on wins.”

The race to become the next head coach of the Regina Pats is heating up, with Michael Dyck about to join the fray, the Leader-Post has learned. Sources say the Lethbridge Hurricanes will announce Friday that Dyck won't be returning to the WHL club next season, freeing him up to apply for the vacancy in Regina.

The Pats' search for a new bench boss began Tuesday after they fired rookie bench boss Dale Derkatch.

The early front-runner is ex-Pats head coach Curtis Hunt, but Dyck might have something to say about that. Not only does the former Pats' defenceman have ties to the organization as a player, but he is a respected veteran head coach with a proven track record. Perhaps most importantly from Regina's perspective, he has had success in the playoffs, guiding Lethbridge to the WHL final in 2007-08 before losing to the eventual Memorial Cup-champion Spokane Chiefs.

Dyck spent three-plus seasons as the 'Canes bench boss, compiling a regular-season record of 134-120-19. This past season, Lethbridge was expected to be one of the elite teams in the WHL, but struggled with consistency while super sniper Zach Boychuk missed considerable time due to injuries, plus world junior commitments with Team Canada. The team also didn't get star defenceman Luca Sbisa back from the Philadelphia Flyers until late in the campaign.

In the end, Lethbridge finished with a 35-32-3-2 mark before upsetting the Saskatoon Blades, a 49-win team, in the first round. The 'Canes were eventually swept in the second round by the powerhouse Calgary Hitmen.

The Pats have only been past the first round twice in 14 years under the current regime.

It has been speculated for some time that the Hurricanes would release Dyck, who reportedly didn't see eye-to-eye with GM Roy Stasiuk. The team's board of directors finally made its decision Thursday. Former Kelowna Rockets bench boss Jeff Truitt is rumoured to be a leading candidate.

Dyck previously served as an assistant coach with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants. As a player, the 40-year-old Lethbridge native spent two-plus seasons in Regina from 1986-87 to 1988-89, compiling 12 goals, 55 points and 319 penalty minutes in 136 games. He also played professionally in Japan.

Another potential top candidate for the Pats' vacancy is Swift Current Broncos head coach/GM Dean Chynoweth. However, the Pats would need permission to negotiate with Chynoweth, who's under contract for one more season. As of Thursday afternoon, Broncos chairman Al Stewart said the team hadn't been approached by Regina.

Hunt, meanwhile, has two years left on his contract with the Ottawa Senators, who've offered him a chance to return as the head coach of their AHL affiliate in Binghamton. However, Hunt told the Leader-Post on Tuesday that he'd be interested in discussing a reunion with Regina, where he spent four seasons before bolting last summer to Ottawa.

REGINA -- The Regina Pats may not get a chance to contact Michael Dyck about their vacant head-coaching position.

He plans to make the call himself.

"That's definitely going to be the next step for me," Dyck said Friday after the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced they won't be renewing his contract. "It would be a phenomenal opportunity — a really good organization, obviously a very good group of players that are coming back. Any time you get an opportunity to work with one of the top organizations in the league you definitely have to be interested."

Although there are other vacancies he'll pursue, Regina's job is of particular appeal. Dyck also insisted he won't be scared away by the underachieving Pats, who missed the WHL playoffs this season and ultimately cost head coach Dale Derkatch his job.

"I don't think there would be any hesitation," said the 40-year-old Lethbridge product. "If I ever got the opportunity to pursue it further I would look at it more as an opportunity (to turn things around) . . . and become part of something successful, something big."

Asked how he feels about the talent in Regina, Dyck said it would be "a great opportunity" to coach the returning group.

"The two guys that stick out immediately are two world-class players in (Jordan) Eberle and (Colten) Teubert," he noted. "Both guys obviously have a tremendous amount of experience at winning at a very high level (the world juniors). And then there's some very good young players, a guy like Jordan Weal. There's definitely a lot of potential there."

Dyck has strong ties to the Pats, with whom he played for two-plus seasons in the late '80s. The former defenceman recalls the city as "a great hockey town" where the fans have "very strong passion for the game."

"That's probably the biggest thing I remember," he said. "It was a great place to play junior hockey and I have very fond memories of playing with some real solid players like Mark Janssens and Mike Sillinger and Jamie Heward and playing for a guy like (head coach) Doug Sauter, who obviously was tough but held you accountable.

"The last time I was in Regina I got to spend some time with Brad Hornung, a guy I respect a lot. To see guys like Gary Dickie around, even though it seems like a lifetime ago, you renew some of those relationships and those never go away."

Dyck is now raising a young family — a 10-year-old daughter and two sons, aged seven and one. Dyck doesn't see that as a stumbling block, noting that he and his wife have made plenty of moves during his career, so they know how to adapt.

The same goes for his coaching style.

"Some of that is dictated by the players that you have," he noted. "In Lethbridge we surrounded ourselves with some speed so we were able to play a pretty strong transition game.

"I certainly like to play an up-tempo game, a puck-possession game, yet one thing that I'm a big believer in and I learned a lot about from guys like Bryan Maxwell and Don Hay is defence and a commitment to playing that first."

Having served under those Memorial Cup-winning coaches as an assistant, Dyck also knows what kind of intangibles it takes to win.

"Nobody in this league is going to have any success unless they work hard," added Dyck, who guided Lethbridge to the WHL final in 2007-08. "What you have to establish is the level of work.

"Some people think they're working hard . . . (but) they have to be pushed to a limit where they know what they're capable of. To maintain that standard is obviously the key. Consistency starts with that work ethic and obviously any time you're building a team that has to be established early."

REGINA -- Regina Pats GM Brent Parker is a long way from establishing a definitive shortlist in his head-coaching search.

"I'd be impressed with myself if I was that far along in this process," Parker said with a laugh. "That would be pretty quick. There's people we want to talk to and I've begun that process. But I'm not even anywhere close to a shortlist."

Inquiries have been rolling in since Dale Derkatch was fired on Tuesday, with the list swelling to an estimated 70-plus. Parker confirmed he had received a call from ex-Kelowna Rockets bench boss Jeff Truitt, who was fired earlier this year as the head coach of the AHL's Springfield Falcons. He's rumoured to be a leading candidate for the Lethbridge Hurricanes' vacancy.

Parker was also planning to chat Friday with ex-Pats head coach Curtis Hunt, who's regarded as the early front-runner for the job. Parker has asked for and received permission from the Ottawa Senators to negotiate with Hunt, who has two years left on his contract with the NHL club.

"We talk regularly anyway," noted Parker. "I know he has had some conversations with other teams as well."

Parker said Friday he hadn't asked the Swift Current Broncos for permission to speak to head coach/GM Dean Chynoweth, who's of interest to the Pats but is not currently in the equation. Even if that changes, Regina would need to provide compensation to the Broncos — perhaps a high WHL draft pick or two — to land him.

"I don't know where that will go," Parker said. "Right now I don't know whether I will (ask to speak to him) or not. I have a ton of respect for Dean as a coach and as a person but he's under contract right now. Until such time that we decided we were going to or weren't going to, I'm better off not commenting."

A candidate of similar appeal, Michael Dyck, is now free to discuss his future with the Pats. As reported first by the Leader-Post, the Hurricanes will not be renewing Dyck's contract.

The veteran bench boss is eager to speak with the Pats — and the interest is mutual. Parker already plans to get in touch with Dyck, but — since he's technically under contract until the end of the month — not before he checks with Hurricanes GM Roy Stasiuk.

"Mike is a bright young coach and he has had some good success over the last couple years," said Parker. "There's obviously the intrigue of him having some ties to the organization (as a former player), which is not a be-all end-all, but a nice tie. Mike has done a good job. He has had some good people to learn from and he's a good young coach."

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About Me:

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kevin Shaw and I have been a Pats fan almost my entire life. My parents can't remember when I attended my first game, but I do know my first game as a season ticket holder was October 5, 1979 and I was 9 months old and have been hooked since. Over the course of my season tickets I have missed less than 15 home games. You could call me a die hard.

At a young age I started writing Pats stats as they were announced and wrote the goals, assists and penalties on the lineups. My fascination with the Pats really got into high gear when I was 16 or 17 when I was going through an older program (1987-88 I believe it was) and I came across a published list of the ALL-TIME REGINA PATS SCORING and GOALTENDING. I think that the note at the end of the list got me going with the studying of the history of the team.

It read "NOTE: Players with 30 or more games listed" but I wanted to know more. It took me a while to realize that it was just from 1966 and nothing before that. I was put in touch with Ron "Scoreboard" Johnston and he helped me get on track with stats and some other Pats things. I've now taken my stats to another level and in my last 18-19 years I've spent hours upon hours studying the Pats. In all honesty I still learn new things all the time.

I have thank you's down the page. One special thank you goes out to Ron "Scoreboard" Johnston, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have had the base to start with my Pats research. His site is reginapatsalumni.net.

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